


A New B(egg)inning

by Kato_Jiku



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball, Pokemon GO
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Characters Playing Pokemon GO, Loneliness, M/M, Self-Doubt, Slow Burn, Takao just really wants someone to talk to, and Midorima is a tease, sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-13 23:47:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7990747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kato_Jiku/pseuds/Kato_Jiku
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At first, Kazunari was surprised because he thought for sure the servers would be down, but everything worked and he wasn’t going to question that. At least it was good for his exercise. And that’s how Kazunari generally spends his days now: eat, sleep (he’d gotten used to the cold, hard ground by now), play Pokemon GO… There wasn’t much else he could do, but at least his Pokemon kept him company.</p><p>Or the post-apocalypse with Pokemon GO AU that no one asked for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Last-person-on-earth type story where somehow Pokemon GO still works, so the survivor is amusing themselves catching pokemon to not feel so isolated and alone  
> and one day, on their screen, they see in the distance  
> someone has set up a lure.

The city isn’t anything like Kazunari remembered being used to. The buildings are now standing in crumbled ruins and countless weeds grew from cracks between worn asphalt. The one detail which struck Kazunari the most was not a single person was in sight. He was completely alone in this desolate city. It was difficult, especially for him, to accept that for a fact. Before it truly sank in for him, Kazunari spent the first few days after the disaster searching for survivors like him, but all his search yielded him were several lifeless bodies and a hand powered generator (Kazunari took the small generator with him in case the one he was currently using broke somehow). For the days afterwards, he focused on survival and stocked up on food and supplies whenever he could.

His days grew a little less lonely when he found Pokemon GO was still in perfect working condition. At first, Kazunari was surprised because he thought for sure the servers would be down, but everything worked and he wasn’t going to question that. At least it was good for his exercise. And that’s how Kazunari generally spends his days now: eat, sleep (he’d gotten used to the cold, hard ground by now), play Pokemon GO… There wasn’t much else he could do, but at least his Pokemon kept him company. Yes, he knew they weren’t real creatures, but that didn’t stop him from speaking to them like he would a pet dog or cat. Talking took an edge out of the loneliness, so Kazunari spoke as much as he could to fill the intimidating silence of the world around him.

Early one morning, Kazunari was busy with hatching an egg when he sees something fluttery and pink on the corner of his screen. It looked like a lure was set up on the nearest PokeStop. Wait… a _lure_!? Kazunari rubs his eyes, but the image on the screen doesn't change. It isn't his imagination; a lure is actually there! Maybe he could finally find someone…? He took a step towards where the PokeStop would be but hesitated on the next one. His fears from his first few days alone resurfaced and made themselves known. What if he finally finds someone, an actual living person, and they reject him? He wouldn’t be able to handle it, knowing there was another survivor who outright refused his need for human contact. But… he wouldn’t know what kind of person they are if he didn’t seek them out. All he wanted was to see another person. Steeling himself, Kazunari set off at an eager jog until he reached the outer perimeter of the PokeStop. Almost immediately, his phone vibrates and a small Vulpix appears on his screen as if it were greeting him. Kazunari ignores it for a few moments to let his eyes scan the area, but no one was there. Whoever set up the lure must’ve already left. Dejected, he taps on the Vulpix and catches it within the span of a minute before trudging away and focusing again on hatching his egg.

Kazunari didn’t dwell too much on the incident and would’ve completely forgotten about it if the same occurrence hadn’t happened again a few days later… and again a few days after that. Each time, it’d be a different PokeStop but still close enough to Kazunari that he’d see it on his map. Each time, he’d make a mad dash toward the PokeStop but find no one. Again. Whoever keeps setting up these lures must find it amusing to watch some idiot run around in circles trying to find whomever set up the darn things. Kazunari, on the other hand, finds it a little less amusing as he catches whatever Pokemon that pops up on his screen that day. This goes on for three weeks— _three weeks_ — before Kazunari finally, _finally_ meets the culprit.

He wasn’t anything like Kazunari would’ve imagined. He was tall, almost absurdly so, and seemed just as stoic. Kazunari couldn’t believe that this green-haired, bespectacled _beanpole_ was the source of all of his troubles for the past three weeks. _How dare he._ Kazunari sets his mouth into a firm pout when the other smirks at him. Okay, the smirk was more of a small quirk of the lips than a smirk, but Kazunari knows a smirk when he sees one.

“Three weeks!” the shorter teen finally exclaims. “You put me through this for three weeks and almost drove me insane! Why?”

Mr. Beanpole lets out a curt hum before answering. “At first, I just wanted to see what kind of person would show up. I never expected someone so… amusing would appear.”

“‘Amusing’?” Kazunari parrots as he frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean? So you did this just to make fun of me? Am I that fun to laugh at?”

The bespectacled teen drops his smirk at that and adopts an apologetic look. “Perhaps I let it go on for too long. I do apologize.”

Kazunari stares at him through narrowed eyes before finally sighing. “Fine, I forgive you… but could you tell me why you disappeared the first time?”

“I got… shy.”

There was a long pause. Then a roar of laughter. Kazunari was laughing so hard he was almost crying. “Are you kidding me!? You made me chase you around all this time because you were _shy_? I can’t believe this! That’s too _cute_. How can a person your height be so cute? Oh my God, are you _blushing_?”

The taller male covers his face with his hands, hiding the angry red of his face from the shorter male. “Stop calling me cute. I’m far from it.”

“If you don’t want me to call you cute, then what should I call you?” Kazunari asks, pulling his arms down and offering a wink.

“Shintarou,” he replies, then looks mortified when Kazunari gives him a devilish grin. “Oh, please don’t—”

“Nice to meet you, _Shin-chan_! I’m Kazunari!” Kazunari’s eyes twinkle as Shintarou visibly recoils at his new nickname.

Shintarou’s face reddens further, and Kazunari chokes back more laughter as the sight of it strongly resembles that of a ripe tomato.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read: there's actually a spoiler for Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker in here, and I wanted to give a heads up lol. It's one of my favorite SMT games, so please give it a go if you haven't played it!!

Shintarou doesn’t regret meeting Kazunari… most of the time. He provided the kind of company that Shintarou was thankful for (not that he’d ever willingly admit it). There’s something about the way Kazunari carries himself that draws Shintarou to him like a living magnet. Even before, when he only saw Kazunari from afar, Shintarou was drawn to him. To Shintarou, Kazunari was a splash of color in his otherwise monochrome world. He doesn’t even mind when Kazunari endlessly teases him. It’s the playful sort of teasing that Shintarou doesn’t think much of because he knows Kazunari is only trying to get him to loosen up. And he does. Gradually. He even jokes back to Kazunari sometimes, and it makes Kazunari’s face glow with happiness.

There are a few quirks that Shintarou notices about Kazunari. He tends to coo at the Pokemon in his app a lot, and he tells them stories when he and Shintarou are settled and ready to sleep for the night. One night, Shintarou asks why Kazunari even talks to his Pokemon when they’re not even real.

Kazunari replies with: “It’s because they’re real to me, Shin-chan! They kept me from being too lonely before I met you.”

Shintarou goes silent for a few solid minutes before he whispers, “Are you still lonely now?”

The only sound Shintarou is met with in reply is his companion’s soft snoring. Shintarou mentally curses at himself for taking so long to ask that question. He turns his eyes to the starry night sky as he lets Kazunari’s snoring lull him into a listless slumber.

Things stay the same after that night, but Shintarou can’t help but feel that maybe he wasn’t good enough company for Kazunari. He withdrew himself more, and that worried Kazunari in turn. He tries coaxing Shintarou into telling him what’s wrong and if it’s something he did. Shintarou tells him nothing’s wrong, but Kazunari knows, whatever problem Shintarou isn’t telling him, it’s eating at Shintarou and festering at his insides. Kazunari decides to wait—even if it pains him—for Shintarou to tell him the truth. Pushing Shintarou for answers won’t do anything at this point and would only agitate him further.

It was Kazunari who suggested they leave the broken city behind and start travelling. He thought maybe a change in scenery would be good for Shintarou, and Shintarou didn’t argue. They spent their first night away from the city in a neighboring suburban town where the destruction was less prominent, and they could both pretend that there were still other people around. They ended up stargazing in the front lawn of what would have been mid-sized house where Shintarou went on and on about the western constellations he knew and told Kazunari about all the legends and stories that went along with them. Kazunari remembers the first time he did this. He was so amazed at Shintarou’s extensive knowledge of astrology that it actually made him shut his mouth and listen. Heck, Kazunari still thinks it’s amazing that Shintarou has a strong passion for something like this. He never would’ve guessed it on their first encounter.

Just as Shintaro was discussing the stars which made up Leo, he was interrupted by the mewling of a small kitten. He stopped immediately and recoiled at the sight of a black kitten, barely a month old and stumbling towards him in interest. Kazunari would’ve laughed at the sight if things between him and Shintarou weren’t so strained. He intercepted the small creature before it reached Shintarou and smiled down at her (he checked). She had the most beautiful blue eyes Kazunari has ever seen on a cat, and he cooed down at her, but the small kitten wouldn’t stop _struggling._ Once she was released, the kitten continued on her path toward Shintarou, and Kazunari really laughed this time. Shintarou looked like he was being cornered by a creature that was easily less than a fraction of his size. It was truly a sight to see, and the kitten did not take no for an answer. She didn’t stop mewling until Shintarou was reluctantly holding her in his arms.

“You really don’t like cats, do you?” Kazunari asks once his laughter dies down. “She seems really attached to you though. Why don’t we keep her?”

“If we are keeping her, I’m naming her Denebola,” Shintarou responds.

Kazunari tilts his head at the name. “Why Denebola?”

“Denebola is the third brightest star in the constellation Leo and is also known as ‘the tail of the lion.’ Denebola is said to foretell misfortune and disgrace.” Shintarou rings off the facts as if he were merely reciting them from a textbook.

Kazunari heaves an indignant gasp. “I’m not letting you name her that! She’s beautiful and deserves a better name!”

Shintarou thinks for a moment before saying, “Cor Caroli.”

“Cor Carol— Isn't that a boss in a video game?”

“What are you talking about? Cor Caroli is a binary star, the brightest of Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs. Cor Caroli is said to be named for King Charles of England, though it's debatable whether it was for King Charles I or King Charles II—”

Kazunari’s head is spinning. “No, stop! Instead of Cor Caroli, how about Miyako, yeah?”

“Miyako?” Shintarou parrots as he looks down at the now sleeping kitten.

“Yeah! Miyako is the human name of that video game boss I just mentioned. She was once the binary star Cor Caroli but was given a human form in order to fill the role of another character who went missing.”

“Hm… I guess Miyako will do. But now you have me curious. What video game is this from? If it has stars in it, I think I might take an interest.”

Kazunari sighs in relief. The kitten’s name is saved! “It’s called Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker, and you're in luck! I actually have a copy of the game with me right now!” He pulls a 3DS out of his bag and hands it to Shintarou in exchange for Miyako. “I’ve already cleared most of the routes, so I'll let you borrow it. Just don't save over the first or second save slot.”

Shintarou nods at the information as he starts up the game. Kazunari peeks at him as he plays. Maybe he should ask him what was bothering him up until now? He looks relaxed enough…

“So… can you tell me what bothered you before?”

Shintarou’s thumb paused over the A button. “Remember how you told me you were lonely before you met me? I wanted to ask… if you still feel that way now.”

The gears started turning in Kazunari’s head. “You thought you weren't good enough company for me?”

Shintarou said nothing as he pressed A.

Kazunari chuckled as he stroked at Miyako’s fur. “I hit the nail right on the head, didn't I? I really like your company, Shin-chan. I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.”

In the light coming from the screen, Kazunari could see Shintarou’s face redden in embarrassment but decided not to comment on it.

**Author's Note:**

> I might continue this, but that all depends on how much feedback this gets tbh. Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
